It was at least one issue where Ward, a physician and former state senator, sketched out a more nuanced view of the issue than McSally, the congresswoman who has often added a measure of pragmatism to her conservative preferences.

"I of course don't think Roe v. Wade is a good law. However, I think it's pretty clear that Judge Kavanaugh has already been on record that he sees it as established law," Ward said.

"If (Roe was overturned), which I think is a very, very, very long shot, then the abortion issue would return to where I think it belongs, in the states, so that every state could determine what they were going to do on the life issue," she continued. "For me, I think we should take an approach where we're being more incremental.

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"I would like to see us start at a 24-week ban on abortion because, as a physician, I know that after that point in time there is no medical reason, even for the health of the mother to abort that child."

By contrast, McSally was blunt.

"Look, I'm pro-life," she said. "I have a strong pro-life record since I've been in Congress and I'll continue to have a strong pro-life record when I'm in the Senate."

McSally then praised Kavanaugh and wanted Kyrsten Sinema, the Democratic front-runner in the Senate race, pressed for her view of his nomination.

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"There's been a number of distortions by my opponents in the last campaign on this, and so I am pro-life with three exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother," McSally said in an interview with Tucson radio host John C. Scott.

She said then that she considered abortion primarily a state issue, but said Congress should not give federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortions. McSally didn't respond to a questionThe Republic asked Congressional candidates in 2014 about their stances on a bill endorsed by House Republicans that would ban abortions after 20 weeks. She voted for former Arizona Rep. Trent Franks' bills to do that in 2015 and 2017.

Joe Arpaio(Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic)

Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio declined an invitation to attend the board meeting, but Chad Willems, his campaign manager, discussed the issue.

Arpaio "is certainly pro-life. He does believe in the traditional exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother. It's important to note his mother died during childbirth with him," Willems said. "There's a very personal, emotional connection to this with him. That experience, plus he's got four adopted grandkids, that has informed his position on pro-life versus abortion."

Ward described herself as having a "100 percent pro-life voting record" and said the issue has been exploited on both sides.

"If we started to work in a thoughtful fashion rather than in a fashion that was designed to raise money for people on both sides of the issue, we could actually start saving lives," she said.

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"I think the government has come too much into the doctor-patient relationship in all areas, and I think abortion is one of those areas," she said in a 2012 interview with the Yellow Sheet, a newsletter that covers Arizona politics. "My preference would be that a patient and a doctor talk to each other about the risks, the benefits, what is the potential outcome for the mother should she choose to have a procedure like that, instead of having the government trying to make those decisions."

In her unsuccessful 2016 Senate primary campaign against Sen. John McCain, a spokesman for Ward dismissed her 2012 remarks, telling the Washington Free Beacon, "She had no prior experience in politics and very little in talking to political reporters."